FORT KNOX, Ky. — The remains of a Soldier killed during the Korean War, and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, will be interred May 29, Memorial Day, at Andersonville National Cemetery, Andersonville, Georgia. Graveside services for Army Cpl. Luther H. Story will be performed by Aldridge Funeral Services, Americus, Georgia, preceding the interment.
A native of Americus, Story was a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action Sept. 1, 1950, at age 19, during battle with the Korean People’s Army near Naktong River, South Korea, where he displayed conspicuous bravery during intense combat.
Story was awarded the nation’s highest award for his heroic actions that day. Within his Medal of Honor citation are statements of his gallantry: “he fearlessly stood in the middle of the road, throwing grenades into the truck. Out of grenades, he crawled to his squad, gathered up additional grenades, and again attacked the vehicle … During the withdrawal the company was attacked by such superior numbers that it was forced to deploy in a rice field … [he] was wounded in this action, but, disregarding his wounds, rallied the men about him and repelled the attack. Realizing that his wounds would hamper his comrades, he refused to retire to the next position but remained to cover the company’s withdrawal. When last seen he was firing every weapon available and fighting off another hostile assault.”
General of the Army Omar Bradley presented Story’s father the Medal of Honor June 21, 1951, during a ceremony at the Pentagon. Story’s remains could not be recovered – subsequently the Army issued a presumptive finding of death for him Sept. 1, 1953.
In October 1950, 11 sets of remains were recovered near Sangde-po, South Korea — eight were identified. One set, designated X-260 Tanggok, was thought to be Story, but investigators didn’t have enough data to positively identify the remains. X-260 was later transported and buried as an Unknown — with all the unidentified Korean War remains — at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In June 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred X-260 as part of Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Plan, sending the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
Story was accounted for by the DPAA April 6, 2023, after his remains were identified using dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
His name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl along with the others still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
More than 7,500 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.
For additional information about Cpl. Story, read the related DPAA article.
To learn more about the Department of Defense’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website and Facebook or call (703) 699-1420/1169.
Media interested in covering the funeral/interment, and/or obtaining more information, should contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490 and/or Aldridge Funeral Services, (229) 928-8683.
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